Bubba Wallace, the only full-time black driver in NASCAR, says he is relieved to know that the suspected noose left in his garage was not targeted at him, and acknowledges feeling "a little embarrassment" over the fuss they've made out of it.
"First off, I want to say how relieved I am that the investigation revealed that this wasn't what we feared it was", Wallace tweeted on Wednesday. "I think we'll gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been. [...] this should not detract from the show of unity we had on Monday, and the progress we've made as a sport to be a more welcoming environment for all."
He also thanked his team and the FBI for treating it "as a real threat".
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) June 24, 2020
Earlier on Tuesday, however, Wallace told "CNN Tonight" that he, 26, had "raced out of hundreds of garages" and therefore was certain it was not a garage pull but a "straight-up noose".
"So people that want to call it a garage pull and put out all the videos and photos of knots being as their evidence, go ahead, but from the evidence that we have — and I have — it's a straight-up noose", he said.
The rope and noose they found in Bubba "Smollet" Wallace pit garage. #DefundNascar pic.twitter.com/0xBH7bsKyL
— Saltine Cracker @Doughboy (@Saltine44143774) June 23, 2020
However, images have emerged on social media showing that, in fact, many Talladega Garage doors had ropes with loops on them, with users mocking Wallace either for lying or for his ignorance.
Your nooses that Bubba Wallace has never seen in 223 career races in NASCAR. Gmafb pic.twitter.com/s4FjEh4AdY
— Jarrod McLauchlin (@Jmac046) June 23, 2020
Bubba Wallace still insisting the door-pull rope in his garage was a “straight-up noose”, even though FBI says otherwise, and photos of other NASCAR garages show the same door-pulls with loops for pulling. pic.twitter.com/jFZTdKOxkS
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 24, 2020
The FBI stated earlier, based on photographic evidence, that the rope, "fashioned like a noose", had been in that garage as early as last autumn.
"The FBI learned that garage number 4, where the noose was found, was assigned to Bubba Wallace last week. The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019", the bureau said.
Wallace has drawn nationwide attention lately after he called for NASCAR to ban the display of Confederate flags at events and wore a T-shirt bearing the words "I Can't Breathe/Black Lives Matter" in the wake of the anti-racism protests in the US following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.
